Journey to the Sand
by Sky Wolf-Dragon
Summary: The Konoha ninja are given the task of escorting two clients to Suna. This seems like an easy mission, but they will soon realize things aren't always what they seem.


Okay since my friend caught me with what I was trying to write, I'm just going to re-write this story before posting it up again. Oh and yeah I decided their like 14.

Shikamaru was standing outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Today, their team had another mission to Hidden Sand village. As usual Shikamaru's first reaction when he heard was "How troublesome."

Choji was out on a mission of his own. It was just Ino and Shikamaru today.

"Hi, Shikamaru!!" Ino greeted him as usual.

"Mmm," he mumbled half asleep.

"Wake up, Lazy!!" Ino screamed making Shikamaru jumped for his life.

"What?" he whined as he yawned.

"My mom told me to help out in the shop today. I'm being punished for sneaking out to the movies with my boyfriend," she explained, "You can handle escorting the clients, right?"

"Mmm, whatever," he mumbled walking in the direction of the Hokage tower.

As Shikamaru walked into the Hokage tower, he was surprised to find Temari and Gaara waiting outside Tsunade's office.

"Hi, Shikamaru," Temari said with a smile. Gaara grunted some incoherent greeting.

"Hey," Shikamaru said, "What are you doing here?"

"We got a mission about escorting clients from Konoha to Suna," Temari explained.

"That's my mission? Oh well guess you don't need me," Shikamaru said trying to sneak out the door.

"Oh no, you don't!!" Tsunade yelled grabbing his collar. "Don't even think about shirking from your mission!! These clients are paying us good money for this!! More money than you have ever been paid in your life combined!!"

"Really? Why would you pay so much just for an escort?" Temari asked suspiciously as they followed Tsunade into her office.

"Because," she started to explain sitting at her desk, "They are no ordinary clients. They are the only heirs to the Furyoku _and_ the Rikou clans."

"Isn't the Furyoku clan the wealthiest clan in all of Konoha?" Shikamaru asked a little skeptically.

"Yes, they are," Tsunade answered.

"Temari, isn't Rikou one of the clan's tha-" Gaara tried to ask before Temari's hand came flying to cover his mouth.

"We're not supposed to talk about that!!" Temari said.

Gaara's sand formed a fist behind Temari's head.

"Temari, look out!!" Shikamaru yelled.

Temari spun her head around and saw it. She let go of Gaara and the fist turned back into lifeless sand.

"Anyways…" Tsunade said getting all their attention. "Gaara, was what you were trying to say something like a clan that has a bounty over their head's?"

Gaara made a grunt of agreement.

"Bounty? Is that why they are paying so much?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes, both families have a bounty over their head's," Tsunade answered handing papers to the three.

On each of the paper's there was a picture of a girl with jet black hair and shiny blue eyes and another girl with light brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes. Under each picture there was a short profile.

Name: Furyoku Karei

Age: 13

Eye color: Hazel

Hair color: Brown

Bounty: 100,000,000,000

Name: Rikou Kodomo

Age: 12

Eye color: Blue

Hair color: Black

Bounty: 100,000,000,000

"These are the two you will escort to Suna," Tsunade said.

"Tsunade-sama, from what I hear, both girls are fully capable of taking care of themselves," Temari agued with her arms crossed.

"Maybe, but we cannot afford to reject this mission..." Tsunade said and drew a number on a slip of paper.

"HOLY SHIT!!" all three screamed as they saw the number on the slip.

"Wow, so many zeros," Temari said.

"What did you expect for a B rank mission?" Tsunade said, "You will meet the clients at noon by the front gates to the village."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," all three said and walked out the door.

Tsunade was worried. She knew that at least one of them wasn't coming back. She stared out the window at the departing shinobi and wondered if she should have given them such an intense mission.

"They can handle themselves..."


End file.
